CiTy BeAuTiFuL...Nauvoo Post #1

For Spring Break, we decided to "get away" from it all. I am not (NOT!!) a big fan of road trips with my family. It isn't because I don't like going, but it is always very stressful, especially for one of us in particular. I really DID NOT want to go. I dreaded going. But I knew that once we made it to our destination, it would be fun. I was right! The road trip was just so-s0, but we made it to Nauvoo, Ill in just 8 1/2 hours. That included stopping at tons of bathrooms and stopping to eat out. We went with another family from Church so we sort of did a caravan. Timing potty breaks between thirteen people was interesting...but we did fine.

Bethanie took her camera on the trip to Nauvoo. She had a great time with it and took some great pictures of herself and the trip. Some of the pictures from the trip are hers (and yes, Madison took some too). We just made it to Nauvoo here. Bethanie was very happy to get out of the car.


This is the kids right next to the Mississippi River at the end of Parley Street in Old Nauvoo. We collected drift wood and Bethanie fell in the river (just got her foot wet).




This is the drive into Nauvoo. The road was very winding and ran directly along the river. This area is heavily populated with Bald Eagles. I was fascinated to see so many out in the wild!



Bethanie and Madison took turns taking pictures of each other with their new Pioneer Bonnets. The one of Madison CRACKS ME UP!



The hotel we stayed in had a great pool and hot tub. The kids had so much fun playing in the pool for first time this year. I can hardly wait to get the pool pass this summer and swim with them! I love seeing them have fun!

Madison was really a Martha's (Carlson) girl. Martha is the oldest kid of the family we went with. She is WONDERFUL with her younger siblings, and Madison loved her too!

After the first day, we went to visit some of the sites in Old Nauvoo. It was really cold most of the time we were there, but the kids were a good sport about having their pictures taken (constantly). :O)

Our hotel room was really neat. It was a family suite and it slept 10. Two of the three bedrooms had bunk beds, one also had a full bed in it. The other bedroom had a queen bed. There was a living room, kitchenette (fully applianced) and two bathrooms. It worked well for us because we cooked in the room each day and saved some money, plus we could eat healthier than if we ate out all the time. It also provided us time to sort of decompress and just be comfortable for a while. It helped that we were on the third floor next to the stairs, so we ended up with plenty of exercise. LOL!